Linda Kay Silva - Delta Stevens 3 - Weathering the Storm (34 page)

“Then don’t.”

A silence hung in the air as the captain deciphered Delta’s cryptic words.

“Turn the tables in our favor. Tell the press that you’ve decided to keep me on TP so that I can teach other cops to do what I do. They’ll eat it up. You want good press? That’s the way to do it.” Crack came the sound of the metamorphic bat.

A sudden glimmer came to Captain Henry’s eyes. “Now, that’s an interesting twist.”

Delta leaned across the desk and rounded third. “Captain, don’t base your decision on publicity or politics alone. We’re talking about a man’s career here. I’m willing to take a chance on him, to try to work with him. Why don’t you give him the same courtesy.” Delta paused a moment. “Do me this favor.”

Locking eyes with Delta for a second more, Captain Henry then turned away and stared out the window. “I’m not one for politics, Delta. I’m just a cop who wants this department to be the best it can be. If it were up to me, I’d go with you on this one. As it is, I’ll have to talk to the chief and see what he says. I can’t make you any promises, but I’ll see what I can do.”

“So, can I keep Carducci in the meantime?”

Captain Henry pulled his moustache and shook his head slowly. “For the life of me, Delta Stevens, I’ll never understand why. But yes, you keep him until I have a chance to run it by Walker. But please, keep him out of trouble until then.”

Delta suppressed a grin. “Thank you, sir.” Grabbing the knob on the door, Delta turned and let a little bit of the grin creep out. “You won’t regret it.”

“I already do.”

“Really?”

Captain Henry shook his head and smiled. “In my days, Stevens, a man was willing to give his life for his partner. I just hope to hell that doesn’t happen to you.”

“Me, either. Carducci’s a good cop, sir. You’ll see.”

“I hope so. Oh, and Stevens? I’m going to give you some leeway on your attitude here, and chalk it up to that wicked looking bump on your head. But if you ever talk like that to me again, I’ll bounce you outta here so fast, it’ll make your head spin. You read me?”

“Loud and clear.” Swinging the door open, Delta let the rest of the grin spread across her face. She had won. Just what, she wasn’t quite sure.

Closing the door behind her, Delta felt victorious. It was one of the many meetings in a captain’s office where she felt she had taken the initiative by the balls and squeezed a victory from it. She had stepped up to the plate and smashed a grand slam, and it felt good trotting home.

Glancing over at Carducci, he looked like someone had trotted over him. Sitting alone in the muster room, his head hanging down, Tony was a beaten man. He knew his career, his dream, was on the chopping block and that Delta held the cleaver. What he didn’t know was that she had chosen not to use it.

“Hey there,” she said, taking the seat next to him. “You’re looking mighty glum.”

“You don’t have to beat around the bush for me, Delta. I know what’s coming down. I may look it, but I’m not stupid.”

Delta studied his rugged features. On the outside existed this manly man who appeared to be more full of himself than a teenage movie star. He was arrogant, mouthy, conceited, and obnoxious, a man who knew he was good looking and charming and who used those strengths to gain entry into women’s hearts. Yet, inside, Delta knew he was just a little boy—a boy who wanted to be a policeman more than anything in the world. That boy was sitting before her now, expecting to be told that his dream was over.

Delta remembered that feeling well.

In the days following her elimination of the man who had been sent to murder her, Delta carried this exact posture as she waited for the noose to squeeze one last time around her own neck. It had been the worst feeling, the scariest feeling in the world, waiting and wondering if someone was going to take her dream away. And many, many people stepped forward on her behalf during the long Internal Affairs investigation into the shooting—people like her CHP pal, Bear, and other cops, who came to her rescue when she needed them most. They had spoken highly of Delta’s competence, of her character, of her ability to get the job done. They had stuck by her then because that was the spirit of law enforcement: you were in it together, or you were sunk.

She had not sunk. And she wasn’t about to let Tony sink, either.

Even if he did screw up, he deserved the same consideration her colleagues had given her. Directional capabilities or no, Delta was resigned not to turn her back on him. Miles hadn’t when she messed up. Miles had told her that the spirit of the law was always more important than the letter of the law. The letter of the law was reserved for jerks on the street, people who asked for firmer justice. But the spirit of the law, that was something altogether different.

It was in that spirit that she sat before Tony now.

“You scared?”

Not looking up, Tony nodded. “I blew it. Now, I have to pay. It sucks, but that’s how it is.”

“Is it?”

Looking at Delta out of the corner of his eye, Tony nodded. “I fucked up, Delta. I’m sorry. I’m just glad you and the kids are okay.”

Laying her hand on his beefy shoulder, Delta held his gaze. “Look, you made a mistake. Yes, it could have been a costly one, but it wasn’t. Carducci, you’ve just learned what the public still doesn’t get. We play those odds every night we go out there. We make life and death decisions in the same fraction of a moment it takes someone to flip television channels. And sometimes, we make the wrong choices. Sometimes the cost of those choices is priceless, sometimes it isn’t. I’ve killed a man, Carducci. In cold blood. I raised my gun and I blew him away. It took me less time than it takes to change the channel for me to decide what to do. I’ve live with that decision every since. Do I regret it? No. I regret that it came to that, but I don’t regret the action. That’s what you need to do. Regret that you made an error, but don’t regret that you tried to help me out.”

Tony straighted up a little and turned to fully face her. “How can you be so understanding, Delta? The guys are right. I nearly got you killed.”

“Right. You forced me into that house. You made me stay in there when I felt like I was melting. Carducci, I made choices that placed me in that position. You didn’t have anything to do with that. It just wasn’t my time to go yet, that’s all. And when it is, there will be nothing you or anyone else can do about it.”

Tony cast his eyes down at the floor. “Too bad the others don’t see things through your eyes.”

“The others aren’t you partner.”

Tony glanced back up at her. “Yeah, well, not for long. There’s nothing I can do to change what happended that night.”

“You’re right. There’s nothing you can do. Fortunately, there is something I can do and I’ve done it. I’ve got a job to do. You coming or not?”

“What?” Tony’s eyes flashed a tiny bit of hope at her.

“You still don’t get it, do you?” Grinning, Delta rose and patted his shoulder. “If I teach you nothing else, Carducci, let me make sure this one thing gets through to you: above all else,
never
burn your partner. Never turn your back on him when he’s down, never point the finger at him, and never, ever, throw him an anchor when the brass is on his ass. You got that?”

Suddenly, a look of enlightenment dawned on Tony’s face. Jumping to his feet, he threw his arms around Delta and hugged her. “You mean, I still have a job?”

Pushing him away, Delta nodded. “On one condition.”

“Anything.”

“You knock off the macho-man horseshit when we’re on duty. I don’t care how you act when we’re not working, but from now on, be real with me and not a one-dimensional caricature of what you think cops are about. I want to see the person Tony Carducci is, not the man. You can be a cop and a human being at the same time. I want to see that happen.”

Tony nodded vigorously. “I can do that.”

“Good. Now, the only other thing we have to worry about is working on teaching you north from south.”

Tony nodded. The shimmer in his eyes made Delta smile. “Can I ask you one question first?”

“Depends.”

“He was gonna can me, huh?”

Delta shrugged. “I don’t really know. It’s over now, and time to move on.”

“You could have thrown me an anchor, Delta, and everyone in the city would have understood. Why didn’t you?”

“You said one question.”

“It’s the last one, I swear.”

Opening the muster door to a very quiet front office, Delta waited for Tony to join her. “I’ve seen that fire burning in your eyes Carducci. You want to be a cop so bad, you can’t see anything else. Don’t think I would have gone out on a limb for you if I hadn’t seen how desperately you want that badge. I know what that feels like. Something tells me you’re worth the chance.”

“Am I that big a risk?”

Delta smiled. “No more questions.”

Tony stopped and looked deep into Delta’s eyes. It was a moment between partners that only other cops understood. It was a look that said they were, in fact, in this together.

“I owe you, Delta.”

“The only thing you owe me is the assurance that down the road, when I need you most, you’ll be there with your gun blazing and your courage sitting on top of your badge. Give me that, and I’ll call us even.”

Tony smiled. “You got it. Anything else?”

Delta grinned and started out the door. “Yeah. Leave the aftershave for your dates. It gives me a headache.

A voice came over the air announcing that Megan’s flight was ready to start boarding elderly, disabled, and children flying alone first. Inhaling slowly, Delta steadied herself. She had promised herself that she wouldn’t cry. She didn’t want to send Megan off on a sad note, after all, this was an exciting time in Megan’s life and Delta wanted to be excited with her.

Still, she could feel the tears push their way past her resolve and touch the edge of her eyes.

“I don’t want to cry,” Delta said softly, holding Megan’s hand. “But I can’t seem to help it.”

Taking Delta’s hands in hers, Megan held it tightly. “There’s nothing wrong with crying, my love.”

“I want to be happy and excited for you.” Delta felt like the incredible shrinking woman. Wherever her usual strength was, it was long gone.

“Honey, this isn’t goodbye. It’s more like `see you in a bit.’”

“It sure feels like goodbye.” Delta hated herself for acting so wimpy but she couldn’t seem to muster up the courage to let go. “If you don’t come back, I’m coming after you. I swear to God, Megan, if you even think of leaving me, I’ll be down there faster than you can shake a stick.”

“Shh. I’m not leaving you, Delta.”

The voice came on again and announced that the back rows of the plane were boarding. Every muscle in Delta’s body stiffened. “Ten weeks. Ten weeks and you’ll come home to me.” It wasn’t a question.

“Hopefully, with my head screwed on right. Trust me in this, Sweetheart. I know what I’m doing.”

“And your internship is all arranged. I mean, you’re not going down there without a plan.”

Megan smiled patronizingly. “Yes, dear, everything has been arranged. I have a counselor at the university there who is meeting me at the airport. When I get all settled in, the first thing I’m going to do is call you.”

“You’re sure they have phones?”

This made Megan laugh. “Honey, they’re not barbarians.”

“But they are third world!”

Megan shook her head as she lifted Delta’s hand to kiss it. “Only to us. They’re a lot like Mexico. They have cars, phones, buses, even stores!”

Delta bowed her head. It would be different if Megan had chosen New York or London or Paris. Delta knew what those places were like. But Costa Rica? Megan might as well be flying to the moon.

“Delta Stevens, you’ll be so busy righting the wrongs of the world you’re not going to have time to miss me.”

“Don’t bet on it.” Delta looked up into those blue eyes that loved her so much and forced a smile. “The one thing I’ll look forward to at the end of a shift will be marking the calendar that another day has passed.”

The announcement that the next rows of passengers should board crackled over the intercom.

“Well, I guess this is it.” Standing up, Delta bit her lower lip to keep it from trembling. “Write when you have time.”

Wrapping her long arms around Delta, Megan embraced her for a long time. “I’ll call you as soon as I’m settled. I promise.”

Pulling away, Delta impatiently wiped away the tear that escaped her eye. “I love you, Meg. You know that, don’t you?”

Tracing Delta’s face with her fingertips, Megan nodded. “Yes, I do. And don’t you forget that. You keep loving me through this, Delta Stevens. You’ve faced worse situations and never lost faith. Don’t you dare lose faith in me.”

Delta shook her head. The next tears rolled down her cheeks and this time, she didn’t bother trying to wipe them away. “I won’t. I promise.”

The intercom crackled again. It was time for the remaining passengers to board.

“I better get going.”